FG establishes advisory, ministerial taskforce to kick out malaria
Hallah said while inaugurating the advisory board and ministerial taskforce, Prof. Pate said malaria poses a significant burden on Nigeria...
FG establishes advisory and ministerial taskforce to kick out malaria
Story from Uji A ILIYASU
The Federal Government has established an Advisory on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN) and the Ministerial Task Force on Malaria Elimination in Nigeria as a significant step towards kicking malaria out of the country.
This was contained in a statement signed by Tashikalmah Hallah, Special Adviser on Media & External Relations to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate on Monday.
Hallah said while inaugurating the advisory board and ministerial taskforce, Prof. Pate said malaria poses a significant burden on Nigeria in terms of mortality, morbidity, loss of manhour, out-of-pocket expenses as well as government investments in treatments and interventions.
The minister emphasised that despite being preventable and treatable, malaria continues to pose a major challenge to the country.
“Therefore, we need a paradigm shift from the standard approach to a more proactive and result-oriented method of defeating this disease.
“On this premise, we invited academics, malaria programme experts, development partners, private sectors, civil societies, business enthusiasts, policymakers as well as the political class to a roundtable discussion to rethink the country’s approaches and strategic views on malaria, which culminated in the setting up of the Advisory for Malaria Elimination in Nigeria (AMEN), among other things agendas, and the Ministerial Task Force on Malaria in Nigeria,” the statement reads in part.
AMEN is chaired by Emeritus Prof. Rose Leke of the University of Yaoundé, Cameroun. Those serving as members include Prof. Dyann Wirth, of the Dr. Soji Adeyi, president, Resilience Health System; Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar, University College, London; and Prof. Peter Piot of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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“They will offer evidence-based advisory services and meet regularly to review programme evidence and provide guidance on aligning with best practices for malaria elimination.
“They will also collaborate with the CMH&SW and HMSH to review implementation when necessary. “The team will meet every 6 months (twice a year),”
The ministerial task force, the statement explained, will consist of stakeholders from various sectors who have extensive knowledge of malaria implementation and are based in Nigeria.
“They will ensure that the advice and recommendations from the AMEN are carefully considered, analysed, and implemented. The malaria taskforce will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health, development partners, donor agencies, and the AMEN as needed.
“The task force will contribute to the overall goal of the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and work to reduce the incidence of malaria. It will also aim to improve the impact of malaria interventions through coordinated efforts in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and awareness creation.”
The ministerial taskforce is co-chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare and the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, while the chairman of the Malaria Technical Working Group in Nigeria, will serve as the vice chairman.
Other members of the ministerial taskforce, include the Permanent Secretary, Director, Public Health, representatives of WHO, Secretary, Country Coordinating Mechanism, among others, while the national coordinator of the National Malaria Elimination Programme will serve as the secretary.
The team will meet every six to eight weeks, and during other scheduled meetings. The membership, the minister said, will be reviewed biennially for renewal or replacement to achieve optimum results.